Door controlling mechanism



Jan. 9, 1934. l MlZE DOOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 5, 1931 gwuentoz WQDW iii Patented 9, 1934 UNITED STATES.

mram OFFICE Application October 3, 1931. No. 568,509

11 Claims. (Cl. -19

This invention relates to controlling and counterbalancing means for overhead sliding doors for garages etc., and particularly doors of the rigid or one-piece type as distinguished from articulated doors.

My principal object is to provide an easily operated door having a simplified controlling and guiding mechanism which can be supplied and installed at a reduced cost as compared with apparatus of this class previously known.

An important advantage oi my invention is that it does away with the usual overhead rearwardly-extending tracks provided within the building for guiding the movement of the door into and out of its overhead position, and provides a greatly improved and simplified apparatus for performing this function.

O! the accompanying drawing, Fig. l is a vertical section showing a door and controlling mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention, with the door shown in full lines in its overhead position and in broken lines in closed position.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, partly broken away, sho the door and adjacent structure, with the door in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 oi Fig. 2.

In the drawing, 10 is the front wall of the building, 11 is the jamb or frame surrounding the doorway, and 12 is the rigid or one-piece door mounted in said doorway and adapted to close the same when placed vertically or to move into an overhead open position as indicated in Fig. i.

0n the two sides of the doorway are placed similar self-contained balancing, guiding and controlling mechanisms, each comprising a compound lever system pivotally and slidably supported on the door frame and pivotally and slidablysupporting the door during the latters swinging movements, together with suitable springs for substantially counterbalancing the weight of the door.

A description of one of these mechanisms will suiiice. 13 is a door-suspending radius bar or primary lever of angular section connected at its lower end by a pivot pin 14 with a bracket 15 on the side margin of the door near the bottom of the latter, and pivoted at its upper end on an inwardly-projecting horizontal pin 16 supported by a bracket 17 which is screwed to the jamb 11 at a point higher than midway oi the height of the door.

18 is ahelical pull-spring whose lower end is hooked through any one of a number oi holes 19 formed in one flange oi the bar 13 and extending in a .row longitudinally of said bar tor adjusting the initial tension 0! the spring to the weight oi the door. The upper end of said spring is fastened on an inwardly-projecting horizontal pin 20 supported by the bracket 17. Said bracket maybe oi U-shaped or channel section, as shown in Fig. 3, to provide proper support for the pins 16 and 20, and it preferably overlaps the doorway to provide an inward stop and weather seal for the door when the latter is closed, which stop, or a supplementary strip, could obviously be extended to the bottom of the doorway as usual, it desired.

21 is a rail bar constituting a secondary or auxiliary lever member and door support of I K-section connected at its lower end with the bar 13 by means f)? a pivot pin 22 adapted to occupy any one oi a series of holes 23 placed in a longitudinal row along the flange of said her for adjusting said rail bar to the desired height. At its upper end the bar 21 has a. movable connection with the door formed, in the specific example here illustrated, by a double roller 24 on said member 21 running on the flat portion of a metal track plate 25 located on the side margin of the door near the upperedge oi the latter,

whereby the door is slidingly supported on the upper end of said rail bar as it swings from vertical to overhead horizontal position or vice versa. Said plate is shown of outwardly-open channel form with one edge turned over as a retaining flange 26 for engaging a section of the roller 24 on the opposite side from the track portion of said plate, to hold the upper edge of the door against said roller and prevent it from catching on the lintel as thedoor is opened. This track plate is provided with a lateral extension 27 slightly overlapping the jamb to provide a forward stop and weather seal for-the upper portionof the door when said door is closed.

&

28 is a roller mounted to turn on the pin 20 and engaged by the rear side of the rail bar 21 to form a backing member and fulcrum over which said rail bar can move angularly and slide or roll longitudinally during the opening and closing movements of the door. I have further shown a horizontal guard pin 29 supported by the bracket 17 and slightly spaced from the i'orward edge of the rail bar 21 for preventing the latter from moving too far forward from the roller 28 under any conditions. J j v 30 and 31 are handles fastened against the outside and inside faces respectively of the doorjor starting the latter on its opening or closing move- "the latter is swung from position, and

ment, and 32 is an inside pull-cord for starting the door closed when a person cannot reach the inside handle or edge of the door when open.

In the operation of my invention, assuming the door to be closed as shown in Fig. 2 and in broken lines in Fig. 1, and the tension of the springs 18 to be adjusted so that they nearly counterbalance the weight of the door, said door will then hang vertically on the radius bars 13 in its position of nearest approach to the rollers 28, and the rail bars 21 will be extended nearly parallel with said radius bars and with the door. Also the springs will be nearly in line with both bars.

To open the door, a pulling pressure from the outside or pushing pressure from within is exerted on its lower portion transversely to the plane thereof to swing the lower edge of the door outwardly, causing the suspending bars to turn on their pivots 16 and assume an increasing angle to the plane of the door while the rail bars 21, supporting the upper portion of the door, turn through a small angle and move longitudinally upward at a relatively slow rate over the fulcrum rollers 28, which are located higher than 1 said pivots 16. This causes the plane of the door they become effective in overcoming the latters weight and said purchase increases as the spring tension diminishes during the opening movement. At the same time, the upper portion of the door slides or rolls slantingly to the rear over the upper ends of the bars 21 until finally the door assumes a substantially horizontal overhead position extending partly outside of and partly within the building as illustrated in Fig. 1, in which position it may be stopped by contact with the lintel of the jamb while the springs 18 still retain sufficient tension to hold the door in this open position. The reverse or closing movement is performed by first pulling down on the forward or lower part of the door and finally moving the same inwardly in an evident manner. when properly balanced by the springs, the dobr moves very easily and with little exertion of strength through its entire range.

Since no tracks are required on the building, and a simpler substitute is provided, the hardware for this type of installation may be furnished at a reduced cost and the installation may be made in a shorter time and with less labor than has been required with devices ofthe same class in the prior art. I do not wholly restrict myself to the described form of embodiment, but may vary the same in many particulars within the scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. The-combination of an overhead-swinging. risld door, stationary fulcrum members, rail bars movable over said members and movably supporting the upper portion of said door when door-suspending bars pivoted to said rail bars.

2. The combination of a doorway frame, a door, a pair-of door-suspending bars pivoted at opposite ends to said frame and door respectively, fulcrum members on said frame, and a pair of rail bars pivoted to said suspending bars and slidingly supporting the door as the latter swings between its closed and open positions, said rail bars being longitudinally and angularly movable over the fulcrum members.

3.'Apparatus according to claim 2 having retaining means on the door, coacting with the door supporting ends of the rail bars for holding the latter in coactive relation to the door.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 including counterbalancing springs having their lower ends attached to the lower portion of the door and their upper ends attached to the door frame in the vicinity of the fulcrum members.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 in which the fulcrum members are rollers.

6. The combination of an overhead-swinging, rigid door having track plates along the upper portions of its side margins, stationary fulcrum members, rail bars movable over said membersand having door-supporting and guiding rollers at their upper ends engaging said track plates, and door-suspending bars pivoted to said rail bars.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 in which said track plates are provided with retaining flanges engaging the back edges of the rollers.

8. Apparatus according to claim 6 including a door frame overlapped by said track plates to provide stops limiting the forward movement of the upper part of the door in closed position.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 having guard members to prevent forward movement of the rail bars as the door begins its opening movement. 10. The combination of a doorway frame, a rigid door, and a self-contained door-supporting and guiding mechanism including at each side a door-suspending primary lever pivoted to the door and frame and a secondary door-guiding lever pivoted to the primary lever, said secondarylever being movable longitudinally over a fulcrum on the frame and having a connection with the door movable longitudinally over the latter.

11. In a door construction, the combination of a doorway frame, and a rigid door mounted for ISAAC 'I'. mzn. 

